Clearly, del Toro wants a certain physique for his Monster, no matter which version of the “Frankenstein” story he’s working on. Jones is famously 6′ 4″ and rail-thin. Pair Jones’ physique with an extensive mime background, and you have an actor who has become an expert in playing non-human roles. Andrew Garfield isn’t as tall — he’s 5′ 10″ according to cursory internet searches — but he is notably thin and possesses a long neck, meaning del Toro wants a lanky Monster. With Garfield out, del Toro has landed Elordi, who stands 6′ 5″ and who has worked as an underwear model. Rest assured, del Toro wants his creature to be tall, dark, and gruesome.
“Frankenstein” will be the fourth media project del Toro has developed for Netflix. He previously co-directed a stop-motion animated version of “Pinocchio” and produced the TV show “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.” The filmmaker also created and produced the animated series “Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia,” which has spun off into the shows “3Below: Tales of Arcadia” and “Wizards: Tales of Arcadia” (along with a feature film called “Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans”).
A longtime fan of “Frankenstein,” del Toro included James Whale’s 1931 film adaptation in his 2022 Sight & Sound poll. Indeed, del Toro has devoted much of his career to stylistic genre exercises wherein the filmmaker has indulged himself in recreating the types of horror, noir, and sci-fi movies he loved as a kid. “Frankenstein” appears to merely be the latest of these self-indulgent exercises (joining films like “Crimson Peak,” “Pacific Rim,” and “Nightmare Alley”). However “Frankenstein” turns out, one can rest assured del Toro will give it his own stylistic spin.
“Frankenstein” has yet to receive a release date.